Press digest: Moscow and Washington intensify contacts on Syria

Sept 21 2015

Anna Sorokina

RBTH

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov three times over the past several days. Source: Reuters

Reuters

RBTH presents a selection of views from leading Russian media on international events, featuring reports on the resumption of contacts between foreign ministers in the U.S. and Russia, the Israeli Prime Minister’s surprise visit to Moscow and the arrival of asylum seekers in Russia from Syria.

Defense Ministers from U.S. and Russia talk

Russia and
the U.S. have stepped up their contacts to discuss the fight against terrorism
and the future of Syria, the business daily Kommersant reports.

On September
18, the two countries’ defense ministers Ashton Carter and Sergei Shoygu spoke
for the first time since the start of the Ukraine crisis, while John Kerry has
called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov three times over the past several
days according to Kommersant. Furthermore, according to German media, a senior
U.S. intelligence delegation visited Moscow last week to discuss Syria.

However,
prospects for cooperation are hindered by differences as regards the future of
the current Syrian leader. The U.S. wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to
go, while the Russian authorities have not ruled out rendering military support
to Syria should Assad ask for it.

Dmitry
Trenin, head of the Moscow Carnegie Center, believes that there is potential
for Russia and the U.S. to work together to handle the crisis in Syria. “While
creating a broad anti-terrorist coalition as suggested by Vladimir Putin would
be impossible as the Americans will never accept Assad as an ally – in the
fight against the Islamic State cooperation between Russia and the U.S. is
quite possible,” Trenin says, “For example, (there could be cooperation) in
terms of coordination so that Russian aircraft and aircraft from the U.S.-led
coalition do not bomb each other, in addition to exchanging intelligence
information – after all, they face the same enemy.”

“Previously,
the U.S. did not quite understand Russia’s plans in Syria,” Trenin continued. “They
were concerned that Moscow might assist Bashar Assad in the struggle with the
opposition, who they themselves support. However, once the Russian side has
assured them that its actions in Syria are aimed at fighting terrorism, the
Americans have become more understanding.”

Israel concerned by possible armed clashes with Russia

Israeli Prime
Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has made a surprise visit to Moscow. The main issue
he will be discussing with President Vladimir Putin is Russia’s possible
involvement in resolving the conflict in Syria, says the pro-government
news outlet Vzglyad.

The civil war
in Syria, which began in 2011, has affected Israel too. It began with shelling
of Israeli territory on the border, near the Golan Heights from the direction
of Syria. Later, the Israeli Air Force began to carry out periodic strikes on
Syrian territory in order to destroy armaments that they thought had the
potential to end up in the hands of terrorist groups – Hezbollah in particular.

In the
meantime, according to media reports, Russian and U.S. intelligence services
came to an agreement regarding cooperation on the Syrian issue during a round
of classified talks. It would be naïve to assume that Netanyahu is coming to
Moscow to try and persuade Putin not to send troops to Syria, the news outlet
says.

Netanyahu faces
at least two tasks. Firstly, for him it is necessary to clarify the situation
with further arms supplies, as Israel’s main concern is that Russian weapons could
end up in the wrong hands. Secondly, it is necessary to develop principles of
interaction should Russian troops indeed be dispatched to Syria. If this were
not taken care of in advance, a situation could emerge whereby Russian armed
forces become a target for Israeli air strikes, which is undesirable for all
sides.

Israel is
convinced that Russian troops are already being sent to Syria. According to
Vzglyad, a source from the Israeli Defense Force told the Israeli newspaper NRG that Russians are planning
to set up an air base and carry out air strikes against ISIS positions. At the
same time, the cited source added that, “we interact with our Russian partners,
it is not the cold war after all.”

More than 900 Syrian refugees seek asylum in Russia

This year,
912 Syrian nationals have applied for temporary asylum and refugee status in
Russia, the Federal Migration Service (FMS) has told the Izvestia daily newspaper.

At the same
time, FMS head Konstantin Romodanovsky said that refugees from Syria and Libya
show limited interest in staying in Russia.

“If somebody
files an application, their papers are considered,” Romodanovsky said. “However,
I think it is necessary to take into account the fact that for Syrians historically
and from the point of few of a larger diaspora and better integration, European
countries are more appropriate than the Russian Federation.”

Vasily
Likhachev, a member of the State Duma committee for the Commonwealth of
Independent States affairs, Eurasian integration and ties with fellow nationals,
predicts that the number of Syrian refugees coming into Russia will increase.

“Generally speaking, there are many of
our compatriots living in Syria as well as people who graduated from Soviet
universities,” Likhachev said. “We should continue to pursue a balanced
migration policy and each application for asylum should be considered from the
point of view of national security.”